Amidst ongoing leadership disputes between schools CEO Pedro Martinez, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the city's Board of Education, the Chicago Public Schools have adopted a new five-year strategic plan after a unanimous board vote, just before announcing that the entire 7-member board will resign at the end of October because of continued pressure from the mayor.
The plan, entitled Together We Rise, prioritizes addressing historical inequities in the city's school system, but also redefines past measures of student success with new measures intended to be more holistic, equitable, and community focused.
The mayor and CPS officials have signaled a desire to move away from school choice policies, and the plan prioritizes neighborhood schools over expanding charters and magnet schools, a past practice which it says, “led to a culture of schools competing for students and resources.” While running for office, Mayor Johnson was outspoken in his criticism of school choice and the unfair competition it created, describing it as a "Hunger Games scenario" that ultimately did more harm than good.
“We continue to face long-standing challenges and opportunity gaps,” the plan states. “These challenges and gaps, driven by deep-rooted structural racism and socio-economic inequality, persist despite many education reforms in Chicago over the past 30 years. Guided by feedback from many years of community engagement, we have already begun implementing new policies and practices intended to undo the harm that has resulted from past missteps.”
The plan redefines the district's approaches to student success, accountability, and investment of resources into individual schools, and its priorities are organized into three main areas:
Students
- Black Student Success
- Multilingual Pathways
- Students with Disabilities
- Early Learning
- Postsecondary Success
Schools
- Connectedness and Well-Being
- Exceptional and Diverse Talent
- 21st Century Learning Environments
- Modernization of Technology and Systems
- Equitable Funding Model
Communities
To learn more, see the strategic plan on the CPS website, or download the summary or the full plan.
